


Let Me Adore You

by striking_stroll18



Category: Formula 2 RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, First Kiss, Getting Together, Light Angst, M/M, oblivious boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:47:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26956060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/striking_stroll18/pseuds/striking_stroll18
Summary: Marcus and Callum have a fight and Marcus is scared he has lost his friend.
Relationships: Marcus Armstrong/Callum Ilott
Comments: 8
Kudos: 57





	Let Me Adore You

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work in this fandom, so feeback and kuddos/comments are appreciated :)  
> Title is from Adore You by Harry Styles.  
> Enjoy reading this!

Callum was lying in his bed in Maranello and still couldn't believe that he had made it. He was going to be Formula One driver next year, and with that, coming one step closer to achieve his goal of, one day, becoming world champion. Unfortunately, it was all still a secret for the public. Callum was only allowed to tell his close family after they had promised not to say anything. His parents had been so happy for him, his mom even cried when Callum told them about it. For him, it couldn't be February soon enough. The only problem was that the factory was nowhere near his current flat. When he signed the contract, that hadn't occurred to him, but since a few nights, he couldn't sleep. In his head was a never-ending discussion whether or not he should move to a place closer to the factory. But that would mean leaving Marcus, and the Brit really liked living with the younger racing driver. Also, if he would move out, Marcus would want to know why he did it. Callum would have to lie to him, and he really didn't want to ruin their friendship any more than he did by not telling the other man about his contract. His thoughts wandered off to Marcus now, the Kiwi lying only a few metres away in his own bed and probably sleeping already. Of course, he had to lie to one of the most influential people in his life. The months, years actually, of living together had left their traces in his memory. Whether it was the movie nights they had together or the moments they spend together being there for each other after bad races. Leaving all of this behind was never an option before he got an F1 seat. Now, he wasn't sure anymore. After tossing around in bed for a little while longer, Callum finally fell asleep, still far from a solution.

Unlike Callum's suspicion, Marcus wasn't asleep yet. He couldn't sleep either, because he knew that Callum was hiding something from him. And when he overheard a phone call between his flatmate and his mother by accident, the Kiwi figured out what it was. Callum had a seat in F1 next year. Of course, Marcus was happy for his friend. But he was also scared. Scared of being left alone by Callum, of the Brit not being interested in hanging out with him anymore because Cal was now one of the big boys. Marcus knew that Callum wasn't like that, but when it came to the other man, he simply couldn't think straight most of the time. Quite literally, if Marcus was honest since he had had a crush on his flatmate for a long time already.  
The idea of Callum leaving him made him incredibly sad, despite knowing it would probably be for the best considering his crush. In the long run, it wouldn't end well. It never did. So maybe Callum leaving before a catastrophe could happen was for the best. It didn't make anything less painful, though. Worrying about what would happen to Callum's and his friendship, Marcus fell into a restless sleep.

The next morning, Callum was already sitting at the kitchen table when Marcus walked into the kitchen to eat breakfast. "Morning, Marcus", His flatmate greeted him. Something in his voice sounded different this morning, and the Kiwi narrowed his eyes. "What's wrong, Cal?", he asked him after a moment of consideration. The usually cheerful Brit sighed, looking down at his hands lying on the table. "There's something we need to talk about."  
Immediately, all alarms went off in Marcus' head. This was it. Callum was going to announce he would move out. Mentally bracing himself for Callum's announcement, Marcus didn't realize it when the Brit began to talk again. Only when Callum was looking at him expectantly, Marcus realized the man in front of him had said something. "Sorry, what did you say?", the Kiwi asked sheepishly.  
"I said that even I'm technically not allowed to tell you this. But I have an F1 seat for next year."  
Oh. That wasn't what Marcus expected their conversation to start with. Smiling the younger man replied, "That's awesome, Cal! Your family must be really proud of you." The other driver nodded. "Yeah, they are. Promise me you won't tell anybody about this?" Now it was Marcus turn to nod. "Of course, I won't tell a soul. You really earned it. Also, I can't believe I'm going to share a house with an F1 driver!" Now, the Brits smile fell, and he looked back onto his hands. "About that... I thought that it might be smarter for me to move somewhere closer to the factory." There it was. The thing Marcus had been afraid of ever since he overheard the phone call. His mind was running on a one-way street now, and he didn't hear what Callum was saying anymore.  
"Are you even listening?", Callum's loud and pissed off voice interrupted his thoughts. In an instant, Marcus was pissed off, too. He wasn't the one who wanted to leave their roommate behind. Before he could say anything though, Callum already angrily got up from his chair. "You know what? Maybe I shouldn't have said anything. Get a grip on yourself, Marcus. First, you pretend you're glad for me and now this?! Well, I guess you aren't as happy as you pretended. I really should move somewhere closer to the factory, so it's more convenient for me. See you next week, I'm off to the airport, I'm visiting my family", Callum snapped at him while rushing out of the room. Rooted to the spot, Marcus silently waited until Callum was out of the front door with his suitcase a few minutes later. Only then did he break down and regained his ability to speak. Sitting down at the kitchen table, Marcus rested his head in his hands and began to curse loudly. He screwed up big time. When he was done cursing, Marcus just felt empty. This was what he didn't want to happen. The Brit didn't say he was going to move out. However, the thought of having lost his friend loomed in the air. He had lost Callum, and it was Marcus' own fault. Willing himself not to cry, Marcus stood up again and finally made himself breakfast.

A week passed without the two flatmates talking to each other. More than once, Marcus' finger had hovered over the call button behind Callum's name on his phone. In the end, he never clicked it, backing out of it in the last second. On the afternoon of the 7th day of Callum's absence, Marcus was sitting on the couch watching a TV series. He heard a car stopping in front of the house but didn't think more of it. When he heard someone unlocking the front door, he realized that Callum was back. Marcus turned off the TV, patiently waiting for the other man to walk into the living room.  
It didn't take long for Callum to find his roommate. As soon as he walked into the living room, Marcus began to talk. "I'm sorry, Callum. I should have listened to you when you were talking to me. And please believe me when I say that I'm happy for you. Because I am. But I was - no I am - scared that you would leave me behind, that I would lose you. Though I realized that what I did was the thing that made me lose you. Again, I'm sorry, Callum." Marcus hadn't looked at Callum while speaking, too ashamed of himself. He got up from the sofa, trying to leave for his bedroom. He was almost out of the living room when Callum's tired voice spoke up. "Marcus, wait. Please." The addressed man stopped in his tracks, taking a deep breath before turning around to look at his friend. What he saw made him feel even worse. Callum was looking like shit. His eyes were red, and a bit puffy, but worse were the bags under them. "I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have snapped at you. I was just anxious about your reaction and when you didn't listen to me... I don't know, I didn't think anymore and just let my frustration out on you. But you didn't deserve that", Callum explained. He looked so lost when he finished talking that it almost broke Marcus' heart to see his roommate like this. With a few steps, Marcus was standing in front of the other man, wrapping his arms around Callum in a tight hug.  
"It's okay, Cal. I probably would have done the same thing if I had been in your position", the Kiwi whispered. At that, the Brit wrapped his arms around his friend, reciprocating the hug. For a while, neither of them said something, just enjoying their closeness. When more and more of Callum's weight began to rest on Marcus, the Kiwi unwrapped himself from the hug. "Come on, let's get you to bed. You look like you haven't slept in days." When Callum didn't protest, Marcus took Callum's hand and lead the way to the older man's bedroom. Once they arrived there, Callum let himself fall on top of the covers. "At least take off your shoes, Cal", Marcus chuckled. The Brit just shrugged but did take them off clumsily. He also tried to get under the covers now, but since he didn't want to get up struggled a lot with his plan. After watching in amusement for a few seconds, Marcus had mercy with his friend. He wrestled the blanket free from the other's body before carefully covering Callum with it.  
A sleepy "Thanks, Marcs" fell from Callum's lips, along with a soft smile. "You would have done the same for me. It's the least I could do." Marcus turned to leave the room, but again Callum's voice stopped him. "Stay", he whispered. It was so quiet that for a second, the Kiwi thought he had imagined it. "Stay. Please", Callum repeated himself louder when he noticed the other man's hesitation. "Okay", Marcus whispered back hoarsely, before walking over to the bed. He lay down next to Callum under the covers, keeping a bit of space between them. Of course, the Brit noticed it and huffed.  
"That's not what I meant." When there was no further reaction from the younger man, Callum moved closer to him and wrapped an arm around the shorter man. Marcus didn't complain about it. He actually moved even closer, hiding his face in Callum's chest and wrapping one arm around Callum's waist. At that, a content sigh escaped both of them. Marcus felt the other man's chest rising steadily, figuring that Callum must have fallen asleep already. He moved his head backwards to take a look at Callum's face. He still looked like death because of the bags under his eyes, but nevertheless, the man opposite him was still beautiful. He looked peaceful, Marcus thought. Carefully he brought one hand up to the sleeping man's face and ran his fingerpads over his cheeks. Callum didn't wake up, only furrowing his brows for a second and pulling Marcus even closer to his body. This made Marcus smile like an idiot, and he brushed Callum's hair from his forehead before retreating his hand again. Resting his arm over Callum's waist and his head against his chest, Marcus was lulled to sleep by the other man's steady breathing and how comfortable he felt. Against better judgement, he could get used to falling asleep like this.

In the early morning hours, Marcus woke up to someone caressing his cheek softly. For a moment, he was confused, who he was with since Callum wasn't at home. But then he remembered that Callum had come back yesterday and that they had fallen asleep in Callum's bed. Sleepily, the Kiwi opened his eyes. It was still dark outside, and he could barely make out Callum's face. Marcus didn't want to destroy the moment of peace they shared, even though he really wanted to tell Callum how he felt. Somehow sensing that Marcus was awake now, he stopped running his fingers over Marcus' cheek and began talking after a while.  
"I couldn't sleep because of our fight, you know? I wanted to call you, I wanted to apologize. But I never dared to do it." His voice was merely a whisper, and still hoarse from sleeping. "I wanted to call you, too. But I was afraid you wouldn't pick because you were mad at me", Marcus whispered back without hesitation. At this, Callum moved, his hand looking for the switch of the bedside lamp behind him. When he finally found it, he switched it on, the room now being dimly lit by the small lamp. After looking at Marcus with an unusual soft expression on his face, Callum smiled. "I could never be mad at my favourite person. At least not for long." He looked away from Marcus' face after finishing his sentence. But before the younger man had the chance to reply, Callum said something else. "I also couldn't sleep because you weren't around."  
After this confession, Marcus didn't know what to say. His heart started to beat faster because it almost sounded as if Callum liked him back. But that couldn't be, Callum had never even hinted at having a crush at anyone. Marcus' long silence made Callum nervous, he was scared that he had gone too far and that he had misinterpreted the hints Marcus had dropped about liking him. Shortly before he could tell Marcus to forget what he had said, the man in his arms found his voice again.  
"Cal? There's something I need to tell you", Marcus started without looking at Callum. Indicating he would listen, Callum hummed and began to run a hand through Marcus' hair. "I'm sorry if this is too direct but... I like you, Cal. A lot. More than a lot, actually."  
Now it was Callum's turn to be speechless. He already suspected that his flatmate had a crush on him, but hearing it aloud? That was something entirely different. When there was no reaction whatsoever from Callum, Marcus moved away, trying to get up from the bed. He began to ramble apologies, and only then did Callum regain control over his body. He sat up, and just before Marcus was out of reach, he caught the younger man by the shoulders. Marcus wasn't looking at Callum again, instead interestedly studying the pattern of the covers. "Would you also leave if I told you I like you just as much?" At that, Marcus' head snapped upwards, hopeful eyes staring at Callum. "No, I wouldn't", he whispered hoarsely. "Good. Then stay, because I mean it."  
Marcus swallowed hard but sat back down on the bed close to Callum. Callum moved one hand to cup the Kiwi's jaw. "Can I kiss you?", the older man asked anxiously. Instead of a verbal reply, Marcus leaned in and brushed their lips together carefully. "I hope that was a clear enough answer?", Marcus whispered teasingly. "Definitely", Callum nodded before kissing Marcus more firmly. His lips were incredibly soft, and in Callum's humble opinion, this was the best kiss he ever had. After a few seconds, Marcus drew back but rested his forehead against Callum's. "So, what now?", the Kiwi asked breathlessly. Putting his arms around the other's body, Callum lay back down, Marcus naturally resting his head on his chest. "For now, I'm not going anywhere. And I won't move. At least not without my amazing boyfriend", Callum replied. This caused Marcus to look up at Callum. "Boyfriend?"  
The Brit shrugged his shoulders. "If you want to, yeah, boyfriend." Marcus smiled at that and kissed Callum. "I'd love to be your boyfriend." A relieved smile washed over Callum's face. "I'm glad. Otherwise, this would have been very embarrassing." Marcus chuckled and shook his head before resting it on Callum's chest again. Callum turned off the lights again and hugged Marcus close. Listening to Callum's heartbeat and evening out breathing with a smile on his face, Marcus was starting to fall asleep anew. He could get used to this, and this time it wasn't even unlikely that he would.


End file.
